The Fessio Phenomenon
Father Joseph Fessio, S.J.: California Blackrobe By Cornelius Michael Buckley. S.J. Ignatius Press, 2024. Hardcover, 379 pages, $27.95. Reviewed by Lee Oser. “Fessio.” The name has become a test. The first card the reviewer lays on the table will evoke a smile or a...
Transmitting Western Civilization Through Education
On Being Civilized: A Few Lines Amid the Breakage By Tracy Lee Simmons. Memoria College Press, 2023. Paperback, 281 pages, $15.45. Reviewed by Darrell Falconburg. “What is civilization?” When confronted with what appears to be civilizational disintegration, many...
Revivifying the Conservative Movement
Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America By Kevin D. Roberts. Broadside Books, 2024. Hardcover, 304 pages, $32. Reviewed by Daniel Pitt. In March 1916, C.S. Lewis, the British Christian apologist, wrote in a letter to one of his closest friends,...
Irving Babbitt’s Defense of the Humanities
Democracy and Leadership By Irving Babbitt. Liberty Fund, 1979 (1924). Paperback, 392 pages, $14.50. Reviewed by Darrell Falconburg. Irving Babbitt’s Democracy and Leadership celebrated its centenary in 2024. We asked several Babbitt scholars to reflect upon its...
There are metaphorical hills on which I would be willing to die. The Oxford comma is one of them.
So easy to forget that the best way to educate yourself is to read great works of literature and philosophy, then talk about them. Bring back the salon!